REPORT: POLICE HAVE NO STRATEGY IN WAR ON DRUGS

MPs clashed on Friday night over an official report into the Police
which found the service does not currently have a formal policy to
deal with drugs.

The United Bermuda Party said the findings in the 2003 HM Inspectorate
of Police were unbelievable because drugs are responsible for 80
percent of crime in Bermuda. The report said while Police have ten
percent of staff involved in drugs there was "no formal strategy for
tackling drugs". The service had prepared a "draft strategy" but it
was "awaiting the completion of the National Drug Commission (NDC)
report".

But Labour and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton said the Police did
have a strategy but wanted to make it more "holistic" by including the
NDC's report.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess said he reacted with
"utter amazement" when he read the report's findings.

"If the Police Service has to wait for the NDC to come with a strategy
for tackling drugs, there's a generation not yet in business yet that
will be there," he said.

"I am asking Government to corral the Customs, Police, Education and
Health to get on with a plan."

He said it was "completely unacceptable" that Police stations were not
up to standard. Having a poor Police infrastructure sends a signal to
the public that policing is not taken seriously.

He added that moving the St. George's Police Station to Southside
would serve as an injustice to the historical town. Knowing that the
primary source of drugs comes through the cruise ships meant that it
would not make sense to move the Police station "miles away".

According to the report the Police officers have raised concerns with
dealing with accusations of "manhandling", Mr. Burgess said.

The report called for more intelligence-led Policing but this could
not be done unless there was better protection of informants, he said.

"We live in a fish bowl and if someone says 'I want you as an
informant but I have to put your name up on a list in Prospect', they
won't be there for long."

There was a serious problem of underreporting of crime because members
of the public had little faith anything would be done, said the shadow
minister.

It was taking far too long for complaints against Police officers -
and criminal investigations into them - to be dealt, giving criminals
the impression that officers were getting away with it.

And it was unfair to have the cloud of suspicion hanging over
officers' heads for so long if they were expected to perform properly.

It was "encouraging" that the majority of the 42 recommendations from
the Serious Crimes Commission had been implemented, and he was glad
Police seemed to be getting tough on white collar crime.

Mr. Horton hit back that Mr. Burgess had launched his usual "diatribe"
against Government and the Police which was grossly unfair.

"The Police Service has a drug strategy. What was addressed in the
report was a need for a national strategy which is bringing together a
holistic approach," said Mr. Horton.

The report was "positive" in helping the service develop and while
Police were not perfect, they were keeping society safe.

He said Mr. Burgess was an "alarmist" who was talking "utter nonsense"
when he said people were afraid to walk the streets.

"That's what gets headlines and advisories around the world,
utterances like that." When UBP MPs pointed out it was the US State
Department that put out the advisories, Mr. Horton said: "The State
Department takes advice of what is said on the floor of the House of
Assembly".

Police were aware of the problem of underreporting of crime and
Government wanted to get Police buildings up to scratch.

He said it was "totally irresponsible" for Mr. Burgess to suggest
Police officers were getting less justice than the general public.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin accused
Mr. Horton of subjecting Mr. Burgess to a "barrage of unjust criticism".

The report clearly stated that Police had "no formal strategy for
tackling drugs" but only had a "draft".

"There is no point is having a strategy that is on a shelf awaiting
action," she said. With drugs being responsible for 80 percent of
crime, it was a matter of "extreme urgency" that a national strategy
was adopted.

"It is a serious indictment that they are still talking about
something that has not been finalised," she said.

She added that she only hoped that the recommendation to work with the
National Drug Commission be fulfilled because it is 80 percent of the
Police Services job. But both sides of the House agreed with MP Wayne
Perinchief when he noted that the "Inspectorate made a grave error in
not recommending the implementation of a police authority".

He explained that a police authority was made up of reputable members
of the community such as mayors.

"They act as a body that makes recommendations to the Commissioner,"
he said. He said the Police were disconnected from the Government
because they are "answerable" to the Governor.

Mr. Perinchief recommended sticking to the old system of command and
control policing rather than intelligence-based policing.

He also noted that in many policing circumstances it was not practical
to send a "90 pound soaking wet woman around Court Street.

"Let's be practical," he said. "Policing is not an art, it's a
science."